1. Field
This invention is relates to a storage container adapted for mounting beneath a platform-type truck body. More specifically, the invention is directed to a storage container which is adapted to be accessible from the side of the truck.
2. Statement of the Art
The cargo area in a truck, specifically a utility trucks, is limited. As a result, it becomes important to utilize every available quantity of space for purposes of efficiently storing articles to be transported. The need to efficiently store articles is especially important in utility-type trucks such as those used by contractors, carpenters, construction workers, plumbers, electricians, and similar utility-oriented tradesmen.
The art is replete with various cargo and storage containers which have been adapted into the structure of utility-type vehicles, especially pickup trucks. In the most common construction, a tool box is positioned in the bed of the truck proximate the wall of the cab. While such boxes provide a rather large storage capacity, they do present disadvantages in that they restrict the available storage space of the cargo bed of the truck. Furthermore, such cargo or storage boxes are difficult to access from the side of the vehicle. Oftentimes the user must actually enter the bed of the truck in order to fully access the tools or other materials which are stored in the tool box. A user standing on the side of the truck oftentimes cannot reach fully into the tool box for purposes for accessing articles stored therein. A tool box of this general description is disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 4,580,827 (Feagan).
Inventive attempts in the art have also been directed to constructing storage-type containers which may be positioned to extend along the length of the bed of the truck. In many instances, a secondary truck bed is constructed over atop these storage container so as to not only provide the user with a full truck bed surface but furthermore to provide a storage area positioned beneath the secondary bed. In U.S. Pat. No. 4,394,100 (Sperlich), a removable cover for a pickup truck cargo box is disclosed. As shown therein, Sperlich illustrates a secondary bed which is positioned above the truck bed so as to define a storage area above the bed as well as defining a storage area between the secondary bed and the original bed of the truck.
Other inventors have utilized a similar design to Feagan but have furthermore positioned one or more storage containers beneath the bed structure. These new storage containers oftentimes are displaceably mounted on the bed of the truck so that they may be displaced outwardly, over the tailgate of the truck, thereby being made accessible to the user. For example, as shown in U.S. Pat. No. 2,784,027 (Tenp), a pickup truck is shown having a secondary construction which is spacedly mounted from the original bed of the truck. A plurality of storage containers, mounted in a unitary frame is mounted displaceably on the bed of the pickup truck cargo compartment.
Other structures which utilize a similar approach are shown in U.S. Pat. No. 4,830,242 (Painter). A somewhat similar device adapted for use in station wagons is also shown in U.S. Pat. No. 2,788,137 (Harkness). Further reference is made to a somewhat similar construction shown in U.S. Pat. No. 4,469,364 (Raifi-Zadeh).
Other attempts at modifying or otherwise increasing the storage area capacity of a utility truck have included the placement of a storage container proximate the rear tailgate of the pickup tuck. While this particular approach somewhat alleviates the problems encountered in placing the storage container proximate the cab wall, the placement of the storage container proximate the rear tailgate of the bed of the pickup truck does not alleviate the reduction in storage carrying capacity of the bed of the truck. An example of this particular construction is shown in U.S. Pat. No. 4,749,226 (Heft).
U.S. Pat. No. 3,727,971 (Sisler) discloses a plurality of storage containers which are mounted contiguous with the sidewalls of the truck storage bed. U.S. Pat. No. 4,733,898 (Williams) discloses a plurality of hinged top receptacles which are inset into the bed of a pickup truck to extend downwardly into the chassis of the truck. An even more exotic approach to increasing storage capacity of a truck is shown in U.S. Pat. No. 3,471,070 (Olson) wherein the bumper of the truck has been formed to define a plurality of receptacles therein adapted for receiving and storing articles. A hinged top is mounted to the bumper to close the receptacle and thereby insulate them from the environment.
While all of the above-referenced disclosures have made attempts at increasing the total storage area which is available on a utility-style truck, there continues to exist a need for alternative storage container constructions which at once increase the storage area capability of a vehicle while at the same time do not result in a diminution of the original storage capability of the vehicle extant prior to the incorporation of the additional storage container structure into the truck.